Professor Vela-McConnell has written a book that is at once deeply satisfying intellectually and hugely valuable to anyone interested in linking theory to public policy.

David Karp, Ph.D., Boston College;
Review of Who Is My Neighbor?

Professor Vela-McConnell has been teaching at Augsburg College since the fall of 1997. Tenured and promoted in 2003, he achieved the rank of Professor in 2012 and in the same year was honored with the Distinguished Contributions to Teaching and Learning Award for Excellence in Mentoring and Scholarship from the Augsburg College Center for Teaching and Learning and the Office of the Dean.

Professor Vela-McConnell’s areas of specialization include social psychology, social inequality, and qualitative research methodology & feminist epistemology. Additional areas of interest include violence, social problems, social cohesion, sociology of friendships, and mental illness.